Manitobans could face 3rd dose of vaccine after outbreak of 2,000 mumps cases

Despite a flare-up over the past 20 months, there were no major hospitalizations, Dr. Richard Rusk says

Manitoba is on the tail end of a mumps outbreak that hit 2,000
people and as the whirl winds down, the province's medical officer of
health thinks another dose of the vaccine might be necessary.

Dr.
Richard Rusk, who is in charge of communicable disease control with
Manitoba Public Health, also said the province looks to be entering "a
new normal" with the presence of the disease.

Currently, people
typically get two vaccinations in their lifetime: The first at age one,
and the second just before kindergarten, around age four.

"We used to say that you were good for the rest of your life
once you had those two shots, but here were are seeing people fully
vaccinated getting sick," Rusk said.

"The question now is, do we need a third dose? That's something we need to consider."

The province will be sending a reminder to doctors in the
coming weeks to be vigilant for mumps and to ask patients if they have
had their shots. If people can't remember or there's no record, just get
it done, Rusk said.

People who have had the mumps do not need to get vaccinated.

The
current outbreak started in September 2016, but the number of new cases
has dropped substantially in the past three months, he said.

"It's
in a big time decline," Rusk said, then hesitated. "I should be careful
about saying that. The last time I said it was declining we went on to
get 800 more cases."

Before the outbreak, Manitoba recorded anywhere from zero to eight cases a year.

"Maybe the new normal now will be about 10-20 cases per year," Rusk said.

Despite the flare-up over the past 20 months, it's important to note there were no major hospitalizations, he said.

"That
goes to show the vaccinations still worked. They just might not have
been as effective as we'd expected they would be," Rusk said.

"So maybe we need that third dose or maybe it's more important when you had your last shot, not how many."

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